P U R D U E 1 7 a ik Johnson ignites Blue Tailback leads comeback with 118 rushing yards 1 by John Niyo Daily Football Writer WEST LAFAYETTE - Jesse Johnson, as usual, picked a nice time to remind everyone just how explo- sive he can be when he gets the chance. Once a year, sometime during the middle of the season, Gary Moeller can count on Johnson to provide a spark and carry his Michigan team. Saturday in West Lafayette was one such day. Johnson helped bring the Wolverines roaring back from a 17- 7 halftime deficit with 17 unan- swered points. He rushed for 92 yards on 13 carries in the third quar- ter alone, and 118 for the game. "At halftime, coach Moeller said we needed something like this to get us going," Johnson said. "It was like a test." But Johnson has seen tests like this before. He burst onto the scene last sea- son with a 22-carry, 168-yard per- formance at Iowa, lifting the Wolverines after a sluggish start. Iowa jumped out to a quick 18-7 lead, but Michigan, led by Johnson, scrambled back to take a 19-18 lead at the half. "It took a little longer this time," Moeller joked after Saturday's vic- tory. "He must have been tired." Aly Tired of being behind on the scoreboard, maybe. "We knew we had to come out and play harder," said Johnson, who became Moeller's No. 1 back Saturday when Tyrone Wheatley was hit in the head after fumbling the kickoff to open the third quarter. For Johnson, it was just a matter of coming out and playing. He had carried the ball only two times for seven yards in the first half. "I thought Jesse Johnson did an excellent job," Moeller said. "He hit the holes quicker in the second half. They were ready for our initial gameplan." Johnson agreed with that assess- ment, but said that the changes made at halftime were mostly mental. "We knew we had to win this game," Johnson said, "so we knew we just had to go out and do it." Michigan "just did it" right after halftime. After Wheatley muffed the opening kickoff, the Wolverines marched 92 yards downfield for a touchdown. Johnson racked up 35 of those yards on seven carries. He took the first play from scrimmage 13 yards off-tackle. Two plays later he busted a 10-yard run for another first down. It was apparent that the old Wolverines had returned. "I knew I had to get the job done," said Johnson, crediting the offensive line with much of his suc- cess. "I just picked the holes, they made 'em." But even when Johnson found the holes in the first half, big gains didn't always result. He said part of the reason may have been the slip- pery turf, which bothered the players all day long. "I had to concentrate on cutting on my inside foot, instead of my outside foot." Moeller had some better advice. "On one screen pass early on, he made a half-stop and then got tack- led," Moeller said. "I told him, 'Hey, just run and use your instinct.' And God, that's what he did." Run, Jesse run. Moeller said he got the OK to put Wheatley back into the game, but he declined. "When you've got a running back going good like that, you keep him out there," Moeller said. Johnson took the first play of the second drive up the middle for three yards. Then he broke loose on the next play for a 49-yard gain, pop- ping through a big hole on the right side and racing down the sideline before being pushed out at the Purdue 24. "Joe (Cocozzo) had a big block that got me outside," Johnson said. "And then I just took off." Johnson capped the drive with three straight carries - a pair of one-yarders and then a three-yard plunge for the go-ahead touchdown. In less than a quarter, Johnson had helped pull this one from out of the fire. "That's what good backs do," se- nior tight end Tony McGee said. Rushing Player -At Yds, Avg La Alstott 16 101 6.3 33 4ponners 16 46 2.6 9 Hunter 14 69 2.6 13 Coleman 3 20 6.7 10 Morrow 1 2 2.0 2 Malden 1 2 2.0 2 Totals 51 203 4.0 33 Passing Player C-A Yds TD Int Hunter 11-22 209 1 1 Receiving Player No Yds Avg TD Dennis 4 74 18.5 0 Green 3 37 12.3 1 Ross 2 83 41.5 0 Alstott 2 14 7.0 0 Totals 11 209 19.0 1 Punting Player No Yds Avg La Ulinksi 4 139 34.8 39 Punt Returns Player No Yds Avg Lg Calloway 2 10 5.0 6 Ross 1 4 4.0 4 Total 3 14 4.7 6 Kickoff Returns Player No Yds Ava La Ross 2 51 25.5 26 Calloway 2 31 15.5 17 Total 4 82 20.5 26 Defense Player Tac Ast Tot EVAN PETF who led Michigan's comeback with 118 rushing yards on 20 carries. .-.A A A A A A A A A AAA A Al{ A 1 t /ic fic Jlic 1 i'c djic] hi Saturday's triumph, higan established a ard with 18 consecutive Ten victories. The games he streak: 1990 higan 45, Indiana 19 higan 38, Purdue 13 higan 22, Illinois 17 higan 35, Minnesota 18 higan 16, Ohio State 13 0 1991 Aichigan Aichigan 'ichigan, 'ichgan! 'ichigan Aichigan! Aichigan; lichigan 43, 45, 24, 52, 42, 59, 20, 31, 1 52, 35, 31, 63, Iowa 24 Michigan St. 28 Indiana 16 Minnesota 6 Purdue 0 N'Western 14 Illinois 0 Ohio St. 3 992 Iowa 28 Michigan St. 10 Indiana 3 Minnesota 13 igan igan FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK_ by Jeni Durst Daily Football Writer WEST LAFAYETTE - It was the kind of unbelievable game that made you think that annoying Energizer bunny would march across the field. But it was a little surprising when a hare actually appeared. In the midst of the third quarter, during Michigan's second scoring drive of the stanza, a brown bunny scurried onto the playing field. Frightened by the noise of the game, the rabbit ran toward the south goal, eliciting screams from the crowd when he crossed the goal line. Play was stopped as bugs proceeded to scamper twice more the length of the field before being chased out of the south end of Ross-Ade Stadium. The rabbit rushed for 286 total yards, notching three touchdowns. It even got its last TD run analyzed in slow-motion instant replay on ESPN. A couple of Boilermakers expressed concern that the rabbit's antics took the crowd out of the game and hurt their defensive intensity, but Purdue coach Jim Colletto had only one thought. "We need to hire him as a running back," Colletto joked. OFFENSIVE OFFENSE: Not following in the footsteps of the rabbit, for the first time this season, a team registered more total offensive yardage than the Wolverines. Michigan was ranked first in the nation in offensive production going into Saturday's matchup. Purdue registered 412 total yards on offense, gaining close to the same mark rushing and passing at 203 and 209 respectively. Hurt by a poor first half performance, the Wolverines netted only 376 yards, with only 207 from the rushing game, a far cry from Michigan's running performances in recent contests. INJURIES US:, Adding' to the injury woes that have plagued the Michigan defense this season, inside linebacker Marcus Walker suffered a pinched nerve in the first half of Saturday's game. Walker's backup Dave Dobreff filled in for the rest of the contest. The same problem cropped up two weekends ago when cornerback Coleman Wallace went down with a pinched nerve in his shoulder. Wallace missed the matchup vs. Purdue. INJURIES THEM: Colletto walked into Saturday's postgame press conference sporting a discouraged look and a bandage covering almost his entire left arm. Everyone can guess the origin of the discouragement, but the source of the bandage was another story. Apparently, Colletto got his headset ripped off last weekend against Iowa when a player tripped over the wire. The headset hit Colletto, who suffers from high blood pressure, on the arm, causing some bleeding under his skin. AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS: The National Football Foundation Hall of Fame has chosen Michigan outside linebacker Chris Hutchinson as one of 15 players nationwide to receive its scholar-athlete award. Hutchinson will get an $18,000 prize to apply toward a graduate education. Hutchinson plans to attend medical school. A hopping good time for this little furry fella Not to be outdone, quarterback Elvis Grbac has been named one of six finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. The prize goes to the top senior quarterback in the nation. HOME SWEET HOME: Two Wolverines got a chance to perform for their home crowd Saturday. Jason Horn, a redshirt freshman and backup defensive lineman from Lafayette, performed to his peek this season in front of family and friends. Horn registered two solo tackles, including a sack on Purdue quarterback Eric Hunter for a loss of 11 yards on third down. Tony McGee, from Terra Haute, wanted to excel in front of the 10 relatives and friends that made the trip to Purdue to watch him play. McGee grabbed four passes, one for his fourth touchdown of the season. Johnson Batten Adams Beatty Conley Zgonina Young Cole Gray Buckland Delvy Hal Brown KakIis O'Connor Thurman Walker Strickland Maciag 11 9 5 4 7 6 5 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 Scoring Summary FIRST QUARTER: O'Leary 34-yd FG, 10:28 Purdue 3, Michigan 0 Hunter 5-yd rush (O'Leary PAT), 5:46. Purdue 10, Michigan 0 SECOND QUARTER: Green 5-yd pass from Hunter (O'Leary PAT), 7:56. Purdue 17, Michigan 10 THIRD QUARTER: no scoring FOURTH QUARTER: no scoring 13 10 9 9 8 7 5 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 lichigan 24, Purdue 17I After running the length of the field three times, this rabbit paused in the end zone for a Desmond Howard-like pose. r w look at this .Ifttit/f TLe Ho1iday Specia~l You can earn an average of $14 per donation and you can earn the $40 BONUS HOLIDAY DOLLARS... If you r and donate 14 times during the months of Novembe December. WE NEED YOUR HELP! There is a critical shortage of plasma -From PLASMA, Miles Inc. produces the only treatment for emphysema -Thousands of infant deaths have been prevented by using Rh (D) .